A modern rapid-fire gun system includes an ammunition storage container or magazine in which rounds of ammunition are held for successive delivery by an ammunition conveyor to a rapid-fire gun or cannon. Typically, the handoff of each live round from the ammunition conveyor to the gun is immediately followed by the handback to the conveyor of a spent ammunition round. Thus the ammunition conveyor is fashioned in an endless loop such that it can both convey live rounds from rounds or shell casings from the gun back to the magazine for storage. Ultimately, the supply of live rounds is depleted, leaving the magazine filled with spent rounds. The magazine must then be emptied of spent rounds and reloaded with live rounds.
To serve this reloading or resupply function, ammunition resupply systems have been developed. These systems are interfaced with the gun system magazine and a series of live round for spent round exchange are performed typically in much the same fashion as are the exchanges between the magazine and the gun, albiet at a rate considerably less than gun firing rate. Thus, the supply system may include an endless supply conveyor for successively delivering live rounds from storage to the resupply system-magazine interface or transfer station where they are handed off to the magazine conveyor in exchange for spent rounds for conveyance back into storage.
Of course, a resupply system must handle the same caliber of ammunition as the gun system it serves and heretofore has been exclusively so designed. There is currently a trend, especially for shipboard installation, to upgrade gun systems to a larger caliber of ammunition, e.g., from a 20 millimeter to a 25 millimeter gun system. This means that the existing 20 millimeter resupply system could not serve to reload the 25 millimeter gun system and would have to be replaced with a new resupply system designed to handle the larger caliber ammunition rounds. This obviously represents an additional expense. It would be desirable, knowing that at some future date a gun system will be replaced with one of a larger caliber, to provide a supply system capable of handling the present,small caliber ammunition rounds, as well as the future, larger caliber ammunition This approach is deemed to be far more cost effective than either replacing the resupply system altogether or intially designing the system such that it can be converted from the smaller to the larger caliber. This latter approach would obviously require a wholesale changeout of internal components when the conversion to the larger caliber is made.
Another situation where dual caliber resupply system capability would be beneficial is in those installations having multiple gun systems of different calibers. A single dual caliber supply system design could thus serve the various calibers of gun systems with consequent savings in manufacturing costs, replacement parts inventory, and maintenance.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved article handling system.
Another object is to provide an improved system of the above-character for handling rounds of ammunition.
An additional object is to provide an ammunition handling system of the above-character which is capable of handling different calibers of ammunition rounds.
A further object is to provide an ammunition handling system of the above-character wherein its total caliber round handling capability is achieved without changeout of its internal parts.
Another object is to provide an improved ammunition handling system which is rugged in construction, efficient to manufacture and service, and reliable in operation.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.